


because i love her

by thenewromantics



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, bc i have a lot of prompts i want to write, i jus luv mileven u know, more to be added - Freeform, so they're going to go here, this is my version of like a drabble/one shot collection, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-25 17:57:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19750843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewromantics/pseuds/thenewromantics
Summary: mike loves el. el loves mike. sometimes it's as simple as that. but sometimes it's that very fact that makes everything all the more complicated.a collection of mileven one shots. some canon. some semi canon. some totally au. all about mileven being absolutely in love with each other.





	1. the one with the soulmate au

**Author's Note:**

> hello my beautiful friends. 
> 
> i know what you're thinking (or maybe i do, if this isn't what you're thinking then ignore this), i'm starting another fic. well, kind of. not really. this isn't a fic really. it's just a new collection of sorts to put various mileven one shots and drabbles and short stories. basically, i've been really inspired to write mileven lately (mainly bc like...it's now 100% canon that they love each other, just saying), and i've also been spending too much time reading otp prompts. so thus this collection was born. i'm just going to be adding to it whenever i get inspired or whenever a prompt really speaks to me. 
> 
> prompt #1: soulmate au where if your soulmate is listening to music it'll be stuck in your head until they stop listening to it. mike is going through an emo phase and el is into bubblegum pop.

It was 7:54 on a Tuesday when El heard it again. That familiar low buzzing in the back of her mind, preparing her for what was about to come. She groaned, pencil falling from her hand and head dropping back onto her pillow. 

_ Not again _ . 

This was just about the third time in the last  _ week _ alone that she had heard this song. She still didn’t know exactly what it was, something by My Chemical Romance or Fall Out Boy or something along those lines, but she sure was sick of hearing it. 

Why did her soulmate have to be going through their emo phase?

Sure, she had heard from Will, her only real connection to the inner workers of teenage boys, that most teenage boys went through some kind of emo phase at some point in their life. And she knew that it was uncommon for teenage girls either, but her soulmate had been going through theirs for what felt like  _ years _ now. 

She was starting to get a little worried, if she was being honest. 

No one listened to  _ that _ much emo music just because they thought it was fun to listen to. 

Sighing, El rolled over on her pillow, covering her exposed ear with her hand. She knew it was a fruitless effort, the only way for the song to disappear from her head was for her soulmate to stop listening to it. And knowing her soulmate (and despite the fact that she had no idea who her soulmate was, she did know them), it was going to be hours likely before they stopped listening to it. 

Eventually, all El could do was tune the sound out, pushing it deep into the back of her mind. Treating it like the hum of Will’s tv from next door, or the low murmurs of her dad and Joyce downstairs, cleaning up from dinner. However, it was hard to ignore, with the feeling that came along with it. 

The sensation creeping up her neck and the warmth that spread through her entire body. The way her hands shook every so slightly and her spine tingled. El had songs stuck her head all her life, but the feeling she got when she knew a certain song was there because of her soulmate, that feeling was so so different. 

She almost smiled, despite the depressing, low sound of the song in her head. She liked feeling close to her soulmate like this, even if she hated their music taste. However, the small, however present, feeling of calm, dissipated, quickly, when her soulmate,  _ damn them _ , cranked the volume up and now El could barely hear herself think. 

She missed her soulmate’s James Taylor phase. 

* * *

Mike hates his soulmate. 

Ok,  _ hate _ is a strong word because Mike didn’t even know his soulmate. But god, did he despise their music taste. And if their music taste was indicative of who they were as a person, Mike wasn’t sure they would get along very well. 

It was just so,  _ happy _ and  _ bubbly _ . There was nothing wrong with that, of course, Mike listened to upbeat music sometimes, but it was  _ all  _ they listened to. Seriously, how much of Katy Perry's music could one human being listen to before they got tired of it?

This was the thought running through Mike’s head as he sat at the lunch table, trying to ignore the sound in his head as he chewed his sandwich. The music was so  _ loud _ though, the overwhelming sounds of synthy beats and autotuned catchy lyrics was making his head spin. 

“Dude, you okay?” Lucas asked next to him, slapping his shoulder, hard. Mike nodded, his shoulder involuntarily hitching up near his ears. He knew that nothing he did would help though, he was doomed to listen to every second of this song until his soulmate deemed themselves done with it. 

“She listening to Katy Perry again?” Dustin asked, almost sympathetically, across the table, eyebrows raising ever so slightly. Will rolled his eyes from Dustin’s other side, shaking his head. 

“Just because someone listens to Katy Perry doesn’t automatically mean they’re a girl. Mike’s soulmate could be anybody.” Mike shrugged at Will’s words, taking another bite of his sandwich. He didn’t really care who his soulmate was, he just wished they listened to something else besides top forty at least once. 

His friends, luckily, didn’t dwell too much on the matter. When they were younger, the talk of who their soulmates was exciting and thrilling. They would spend hours whispering about it in Mike’s basement, getting excited if one of them heard the whispers of a new tune. Now, they still brought them up sometimes, but it was less exciting now. 

Especially since both Dustin  _ and _ Lucas had found theirs. Dustin in a girl he attended summer camp with, who he bonded with a couple years ago about their mutual love for The NeverEnding Story, which resulted in Mike, Lucas and Will having to hear said song on repeat for almost two years before Dustin finally relaxed. 

And Lucas in Max. A redhead girl who moved to Hawkins a couple months ago from California. They had literally bumped into each other in the hallway one day, Max had dropped her phone, Lucas had seen what song she was listening to and boom. The rest was history. 

Will and Mike were soulmate less for now, but Will was pretty positive that his soulmate didn’t live around here, and Mike had never really bothered to try and find his. It’s just that, there were like seven billion people on the planet and while Mike knew his soulmate’s music taste like the back of his hand, he knew nothing else about them. 

As curious as he might be, and trust him, he was, especially in middle school, to figure out who his soulmate might be, the whole thing just seemed...pointless. Lucas got lucky, stumbling across his in the school hallway, and Dustin’s was a perfect example of two people being in the right place at the right time. 

But Mike had a hard time believing he would be so lucky. So, he pushes his curiosity aside and just, lives with the fact that he might not ever know who his soulmate is. 

He just really, really, hopes eventually they start listening to something else.

* * *

“Hey, do you mind if a sit here?” El’s heart is thudding in her chest and her throat feels dry as the words leave her mouth and she mentally curses herself for acting so silly. 

“Uh, sure.” Mike Wheeler barely looks up from his task of untangling his headphones to answer her, although she does catch his eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she sits in the seat across from him. 

Setting her books down on the table, El smiles as Mike fumbles with the wires, his fingers and brain not seeming to communicate as he attempts to pull the small knots apart. “Do you want some help?” She asks, barely containing her laugh. 

Mike sighed, handing them to her wordlessly and El giggled, taking them from him and beginning to work through the knots. “Sorry, by the way. For barging in like this. Usually I would sit with Max during study hall, but she’s out sick today and last time I sat alone, Troy Harrington spent the entire hour trying to convince me to take a ride, and I don’t think he meant in his car.” 

Across the table, Mike grimaced and shook his head slowly. “He’s a dick.” El giggles, nodding her head in agreement. 

“That he is.” Pulling the wires apart, El smiled at the now untangled headphones, handing them back across the table to Mike. “Here.” 

El thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest with the smile that Mike gave her in return. “Thanks.” He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “And no worries, you can uh, sit here all you want.” 

There was a beat of silence, and El’s heart raced in her chest as her and Mike held eye contact. The moment only lasted a second, maybe even shorter than that, but El felt out of breath by the time they broke contact, Mike directing his attention to his phone and El glancing down at her notebook. 

She had to resist the urge to lift her eyes to look at him. 

You see, El had always thought Mike Wheeler was ridiculously, ridiculously cute. 

They weren’t friends, at least not in El’s mind. Mike was best friends with her step brother, but since the boys never spent much time at the Hopper-Byers house, mainly hanging out in Mike’s infamous basement (that El had only visited once back in middle school when she was new in school and Will was her only friend), or at the arcade. Her and Mike had never spent any time alone, but he was always nothing but nice to her when they happened to be in each other’s presence. 

Truthfully, El had always had a little bit of a crush on him. But had always been far too embarrassed to admit it to anymore. 

There was also the tricky issue of her soulmate that made having crushes particularly difficult. El just felt weird having feelings for someone when she knew that there was her perfectly crafted other half out there somewhere. 

That didn’t mean that she couldn’t admire how cute Mike Wheeler was, however.

Which is exactly what she found herself doing just a couple seconds later. Despite her best efforts to focus on her calculus work, she found her attention quickly being directed to MIke, who was still looking at his phone, no doubt trying to decide what he wanted to listen to. El smiled, watching with a quickly beating heart as Mike worried his bottom lip and his eyebrows scrunched together. 

_ Cute, cute, cute. _

Unfortunately, El’s admiration of Mike was quickly interrupted with the oh too familiar whisper making its presence known in the back of her mind. 

_ But, wait.  _ **_No._ ** _ It couldn’t be…  _

_ Could it? _

Her heart practically exploding out of her chest, her hands shaking as she shoved them between her legs to attempt to quell them, El tried to ignore the song that was now playing quietly in her head. She didn’t recognize it, but she figured there was no harm in asking. 

“What are you listening to?” She asked, knocking Mike’s leg under the table lightly with her own. She could barely hear her own question, the music and the sound of her own blood pulsing overwhelming her own ability to hear herself think, let alone speak. 

At first she doesn’t think Mike hears her, but after a moment, he pulls one of the earbuds from his ear and shrugs, showing her his phone. She nods, forcing a smile, her heart still beating erratically in her chest. The song wasn’t anything El had ever heard before, but she filed the name away. 

Just in case. 

Deep down, she knew this whole thing was probably a coincidence. That she started hearing music at the same time Mike started listening to it. It was ridiculous to assume it was him just because she happened to be sitting next to him. There were probably thousands, nay,  _ millions _ , of people listening to music at this moment in time. 

So yeah, definitely, probably not Mike. 

* * *

  
(Later that night, however, El searches the name of the song on YouTube. She had written it on her hand in case she had forgotten, but she hadn’t, the name coming to her almost immediately. 

Her hands are shaking slightly as she clicks on the first result, the opening bars of the slow, somber tune filling her quiet, dark bedroom. El can’t breathe. 

_ Oh. _ ) 

* * *

Mike can’t concentrate. 

He’s trying, key word being trying, to read his assigned book for his honors English class, but he’s failing miserably. Instead, he can’t stop thinking about his interaction that day with El Hopper. 

El had always been an  _ interesting _ person in Mike’s teenage years. Truthfully, she was the first girl he had ever really had a crush on, way back in middle school. When Will had introduced them all to her, as his mom’s new boyfriend’s daughter, Mike had been taken by cute how she was, and now years later not much has changed. 

Over the years, they never became close. El didn’t become a member of their party or anything, only coming over for that one movie night way back in seventh grade, before finding her own group of friends (which now included Lucas’s girlfriend, Max), but Mike had always made an effort to be nice to her, remembering how nervous she had been when he had met her all those years ago. 

And god, she was even prettier now then she was back in middle school. 

However, Mike couldn’t get it out of his head that there was something  _ strange _ about the way she was acting today. Sure, Mike hasn’t talked to her much lately, in fact they haven’t spoken more than just pleasantries in months, but she seemed  _ different _ today. And Mike couldn’t put his finger on why. 

But, before Mike can think anymore on the subject, his mind begins to buzz and he sighs, preparing himself for whatever bubblegum, overproduced pop song his soulmate was going to provide him with this evening. This morning they had listened to  _ Material Girl _ by Madonna six times in a row and Mike thought he was going to rip his head off if he had to listen to it one more time. 

What Mike wasn’t expecting, and what sent him nearly flying into the air and smacking his head into the overhead light that illuminated the Wheeler basement in soft yellow light, was to hear the  _ same _ exact song he had been listening to during study hall that day. 

_ No. _

_ This couldn’t mean… _

Immediately he flashed back to the moment in which El had started acting weird.  _ When she had asked him what he was listening to _ . No, this had to be a coincidence. There had to be some kind of explanation for his soulmate to be listening to  _ this  _ song as opposed to their usual variety. This was some kind of wild, crazy, coincidence. 

Right?

Mike didn’t know how long he stood there, face slack and legs like jelly, and  _ that fucking song _ , playing over and over and over again in his head. It could have been ten minutes or two hours, he really couldn’t tell. 

Eventually, he was pulled from his daze by a knocking on the front door upstairs. At first, Mike made no move to go and answer it, someone else could get it, it was probably one of his mom’s book club friends or something. But when the knocking continued, Mike remembered that he was the only one home, his parents out to eat and his sister at one of her friend’s houses. 

When the knocking continued, even as Mike made no move to answer the door, he finally conceded, forcing himself to swallow and take a deep breath before pushing himself up the stairs and towards the front door. His heart pounded with every step, the song in his head playing louder and louder and when he opened the door, his heart practically burst from his chest. 

Because there was El, looking beautiful, out of breathe and wonderstruck in the pale early evening moonlight. She had her phone in her hand, and Mike didn’t even have to look to know what she had walked all the way over here to show him. 

“Hi.” She said after a minute, her voice soft and airy, a smile on her lips. 

Mike who felt an unexplained gravitational pull towards her as he stepped out onto his front porch, smiled. 

“Hi.” 

* * *

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this prompt was soo much fun to write and i'm so so excited to work through the ones i have saved (my prompts folder currently has 50 prompts in it so....prepare yourselves...) hopefully you guys are excited too! i know this isn't a s3 based fic, but some of the prompts will be! this one was just speaking to me. lemme know what you think! 
> 
> if u need to scream about mileven or st3 in general, you can find me over on tumblr under the username milevens!


	2. the one where they're stuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello friends! firstly, i want to say thank u so much for the positive response on the first one shot in this lil series. i'm happy that so many of u have expressed excitement for more so i'm happy to come and deliver it to you! this one is another au that i honestly have wanted to write for months, but never got around to but i finally did! eventually i'll start diving into canon a little bit more, but for now we're going full steam all au babey. 
> 
> the prompt for this au is "mike and el get stuck in a store". i took a little bit of liberty with it considering how vague it and the concept of the fic itself was inspired by the television show 'superstore' (which if you haven't watched PLEASE do because it's hilarious and criminally underrated). 
> 
> ANYWAYS i hope you all enjoy, this one was super fun to write and ended up being a little longer then expected.

“Fuck.” 

Mike can’t help the soft curse that leaves his mouth as he hears that  _ goddamn _ beep for what has to be the seventh time. Giving it one more try, Mike punches in the numbers again, like he does almost every single night. 

3-1-5-3-5-3-1-1

The, now extremely familiar, beep cuts loud through the emptiness of the store and Mike wants to ram his head into the wall. It wasn’t uncommon, in fact it happened more times then it didn’t, for Joyce to forget to tell Mike when she changed the security password, but usually it was an easy fix. He would just call her and she would tell it to him, but that wasn’t an option this time. 

Because Joyce had left early that day to go on an overnight retreat with her new husband out in the woods somewhere. Meaning, Mike had no other options then to wait it out until morning. Fan  _ fucking _ tastic. 

“Everything okay?” Turning around slowly, Mike gives, what he hopes, is an apologetic smile. “It happened again, didn’t it?” 

“Yeah,” Mike rubs the back of his neck, sighing softly. “Sorry, El. Looks like we’re stuck here.” 

El Hopper,  _ god _ . Mike will never understand how a girl like her ended up working at a place like this. Sure, Melvad’s was a nice store and Joyce was a great boss, but Melvad’s is where you worked if you were retired or a high schooler trying to make some extra cash. Or you were Mike, who needed to make money to pay for pretty much everything after his dad lost his job halfway through his senior year of high school. 

You didn’t work at a place like Melvad’s if you were El Hopper. 

El Hopper was beautiful, by far one of the prettiest girls Mike had ever seen, with her light brown, brilliant eyes and her soft looking skin. She also was one of the funniest people he had ever met, not to mention she was witty and smart, and always knew the right thing to say. 

_ (Yeah, Mike knows how pathetic he sounds, but c’mon, he spends his entire life stocking shelves and running a register, sue him.)  _

“Well, looks like we’ll have to make the most of it.” She says after a small beat of silence, her hands falling to her hips and her face set in a determined smile. “Who says we can’t have a little fun.” 

Mike can’t help but snort, shaking his head ever so slightly. “You do realize we’re gonna be stuck in here all night, no lights, no sound, just the two of us, right?” 

El rolls her eyes, a small smirk on her face. Mike’s heart speeds up in his chest. “Yes, Mike. I’m aware of the situation we’ve gotten ourselves into. I’m just trying to make the most of it, unlike  _ some _ people.” 

“Hey, look,” Mike holds his hands up into the air, easily falling into the usual banter that him and El find themselves in, “I’m just trying to warn you of the night you’ve got ahead of you so in a couple hours when you hate it, you can’t blame me for not warning you.” 

El smiles and Mike swears his body actually tingles.  _ God, he’s pathetic _ . “Oh, c’mon, lighten up. It’s not that bad. It’ll be like…” She trails off and Mike grins, already feeling a chuckle rise in his throat. “Camping.” 

He full on laughs then, his body shaking. “I’m not entirely convinced you’ve ever been camping.” El shrugs, not giving him an answer one way or the other, but if she’s offended by his laughter, she doesn’t show it. 

“Well, I have an idea of how we can make this fun, do you want to join me or are you going to mope around all night?” Her eyes are wide, teasing him with their gaze and Mike resists the urge to lick his lips. Not for the first time since they met almost four months ago, Mike wonders if she’s flirting with him. 

He doubts it considering she’s, well, her, and he’s well, him. But the thought crosses his mind every so often, even if it disappears just as quickly. 

“Fine, fine, you win. Although, I am quite good at moping so don’t test me.” Mike points a finger in her direction and she laughs, playing throwing her head back. Mike’s stomach swoops and it hits him that he’s about to spend the next eight hours locked in a department store with the girl he’s had a crush on since her first day. 

His night is either about to go horribly wrong, or maybe, just maybe, tonight will be the best night of his life. 

* * *

Turns out that El’s big idea of fun, is sitting on the rug in the electronics sections in front of the wall of televisions (which are off, and unable to be turned on due to the electricity timer) and sharing a tub of strawberry ice cream. 

Well, technically it’s stolen, but Mike makes a mental note to slip two dollars into one of the registers before the night is over and Joyce will be none the wiser. 

“So, missing out on any big plans tonight?” El asks as she places a rather large, spoonful of ice cream onto her tongue. Mike tries to not be too creepy as he watches the smile on her face as she swallows, the sight causing him to gulp, barely realizing she had handed the carton off to him. 

He shrugs at her question, not wanting her to realize just how lame he actually is. He definitely did  _ not  _ have any sort of plans tonight, sans playing video games with his roommate. “Not anything special, what about you?” 

El looks off into the darkness of the store before looking back at Mike, a weird, unreadable expression on her face. “I was supposed to go out on a date tonight.” The words leave her lips so nonchalantly and as soon as she says them, she grabs the ice cream from him. 

However, Mike feels like his entire body has frozen in place and his heart has sunk into his stomach and suddenly he feels like he might have to rush to the bathroom to vomit up all the ice cream he had devoured. He doesn’t know why this surprises him, he actually really should have expected it. 

El was gorgeous, any guy, or girl, would be lucky to have El like that in their lives. Mike supposed he just wished that someday it would be him. No matter how unrealistic and pathetic it might have sounded. 

“Oh.” He finally says after a long beat of silence. If El had been anticipating his answer, she didn’t show it, merely giving him a small smile that Mike couldn’t quite read the emotions behind. It almost looked like, sadness, pity maybe? But he couldn’t tell. 

“Yeah.” El said, lodging her spoon in the ice cream before placing it down on the ground. “I didn’t really want to go on it though, my best friend set it up for me. She said she was tired of seeing me “waste away”, her words not mine, so she set me up.” 

Mike nods, gulping as he watches her. There’s something so pretty about the way she looks in the pale blue light of the store. Because of the lack of proper lighting, the only light comes from the emergency lights in the corners of the store, but somehow, El still looks beautiful. 

“Well, there’s always tomorrow, right?” Mike says, hoping his voice doesn’t betray him and reveal the weird tugging on his heart. El doesn’t respond, merely nodding her head and running her hand through her hair. 

Mike isn’t sure how long they sit there after that, in the quiet, still, darkness with a tub of melted ice cream sitting between them. But it makes him feel, peaceful, in a weird way. Like him and El could just sit there together, not a care in the world. 

But he should know that this night is only just getting started. 

* * *

Mike is in the middle of washing his hands in the bathroom when he hears the crash. 

Nearly jumping out of his skin, he doesn’t even try to dry his hands as he practically sprints from the bathroom and onto the store floor. At first he fears that someone is breaking in and his mind starts spiraling with images of El being held hostage of burglars and the two of them being held at gunpoint and being forced to hand over handfuls of money. But then he realizes that there’s no alarm and no footsteps and the store is just as still and quiet as it was five minutes ago. 

Then it hits him. 

El. 

Taking off at a sprint, Mike realizes that El isn’t in the electronic department where he left her and panic settles as he begins to search for her. The crash had to be her and he can only hope that she’s still alive when he finds her. He knows it’s probably crazy, to assume the worst, but he really can’t help it. 

Eventually, he finds her, and when he does he almost has to laugh. 

Because he finds El sitting in the middle of the canned goods aisle, her arms crossed across her chest and a pout on her face. Her ankle is also twisted at a weird angle and Mike assumes that’s why she’s pouting. 

“What the hell happened?” He said, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice. El looks up at him, rolling her eyes softly, pushing her hair back from her face. Mike can tell she’s trying to play it cool but he can see her cheeks pinking with blush. 

She sighs and Mike sits down in the aisle across from her. “I was trying to reach up there,” she gestures to the top shelf and Mike looks up, eyebrows crinkling together. What the hell had she been reaching for? Did she have a sudden hankering for canned ravioli? “And then I slipped. I think I sprained my ankle.” 

El took a deep intake of breath through her teeth as Mike’s hands ghosted over her skin. “Yeah, that does look like a pretty bad sprain.” Touching the sprain lightly, Mike lifted El’s leg and propped it up on his knee. “We should probably wrap it.” 

“Do you know how to do that?” El said, cringing in pain. Mike could tell she would trying to not look like she was in pain, but he could see it in the lines of her face and he nodded. 

“I rode my bike everywhere when I was a kid.” He shrugs, eyes still focused on El’s ankle. “I only ever really sprained my wrist, but I fucked up my ankle a couple times too.” 

El giggles and Mike feels the tips of his ears warm with blush. “So you were kind of a klutz when you were a kid, huh?” 

“Just a little bit.” Mike admits, looking up at El, who has a smile on her face. “I’m gonna have to go and get some stuff from the first aid aisle to wrap it, can you wait here?” 

Mike isn’t expecting an answer, it’s not like El can really go anywhere with her ankle. He’s getting ready to stand up when El does the last thing he expects. She hands him her shirt. 

Yeah sure, it’s a button up flannel and she’s wearing a tank top underneath but  _ still _ . It’s her  _ shirt _ and Mike feels like an idiot sitting there with it in his hand. He swallows roughly, trying  _ really _ , really hard not to stare at her. He’s pretty sure he’s failing, but if El notices, she does him the courtesy of not bringing it up. 

“Will that work?” El asks, lifting her eyebrows slightly. “I would just rather not wait.” 

Mike’s mouth is still puckered open and he closes it quickly, nodding. “Yeah, this should be fine.” Finally pulling his eyes away from her, Mike takes a deep breath as he  _ desperately _ tries to focus on her  _ sprained ankle _ and not the fact that she’s still across from him in just a tank top. 

“Can I ask you something?” El asks after a couple minutes of silence. Mike had just begun slowly wrapping El’s ankle, trying not to move it too much and put her in any more pain. The words barely register to him at first and he flicks his eyes up to look at her momentarily, before his attention is on her ankle again. 

“You just did.” 

“Mike.” 

“Sorry.” He looks up at her again, a small apologetic smile on his face and a grin on her lips as she shakes her head. “Yeah, go ahead.” 

El sighs and Mike can hear her adjusting, even as he doesn’t look up from what he’s doing. “How did you end up working here?” Mike isn’t totally sure what he had been anticipating to come out of El’s mouth, but that certainly wasn’t it. 

Mike ponders her question for a second, wondering how honest he should be. Truthfully, the reason he ended up here is kind of a depressing one, at least for him. He knows that El is probably asking because it’s kind of lame when a guy who should be in college and should be working towards getting a real job and starting a career is instead one of the assistant managers of a department store in middle America. 

On one hand, El probably wouldn’t judge him. Despite the fact that Mike has only ever interacted with her in a work setting, she’s never talked about any of their coworkers behind their backs, or laughed at customers after they walked out the door. In fact, she was never anything but kind and warm towards everyone, Mike included. 

But on the other hand, he really didn’t want her to like, pity him, or feel sorry for him. The last thing he wanted was the girl he was totally crushing on to treat him like some kind of charity case because she felt bad for him. Like, he was pretty sure he would rather throw himself off the roof and onto the concrete parking lot then have that happen. 

In the end, he decides to be truthful. 

“I started working here my senior year of high school, just for some extra pocket cash. My best friend, Will, he’s Joyce’s son, so getting the job was pretty easy.” Mike shrugs, gulping as he continues. His eyes are still trained on El’s ankle, even if he’s only really playing with the fabric of the shirt at this point. He just can’t bring himself to make eye contact with her. “But, my dad lost his job in, like December of my senior year, and we almost lost our house.” 

El gasps slightly at his words and Mike’s spine straightens, that hot, embarrassed blush creeping up his neck. “Then, in true life fashion to kick people while they’re down, my little sister got sick and spent like nine months in the hospital.” Daring to look up at her, Mike’s heart thuds in his chest as he makes eye contact with El. He can’t totally read the expression on her face, but it sends a swooping to his stomach and suddenly his mouth is dry. 

“I was supposed to go to college that fall, I got in and had a scholarship and everything, but in the end I just couldn’t bring myself to leave. My parents like barely had any money and there were a shit ton of bills to pay, so I stuck around to help out. Thought maybe my paycheck from here, no matter how small, would help out, even if it just helped pay for like groceries.” Mike sighs, pulling slightly on a thread of El’s shirt that’s now secured around her ankle. 

“Of course,” he continues, because he’s starting to get nervous and when he gets nervous he rambles and El hasn’t given any indication that she wants him to stop, so he doesn’t. “That was like three years ago and Holly’s all better now and my dad has a new job but I’m still stuck here, luckily I finally moved into my own place, well I have a roommate, but it’s not my parent’s house, but uh, yeah…” 

He trails off, swallowing roughly, embarrassed. There’s a lot of things he could see El doing in response, but somehow, what he doesn’t see coming is her hand resting on his arm and a small smile on her face as she looks at him. 

“That’s really sweet, Mike.” She practically whispers, her hair falling in front of her face. Mike has to resist the urge to reach forward and push it behind her ears, she’s certainly close enough and Mike is desperate to reach for her. “What you did for your family, seriously.” 

Mike blushes, warm and deep and his heart practically soars in his chest. It’s not the first time someone has said something like that to him, he’d heard it hundreds of times before. From the guidance counselor at the high school, from Joyce, from nurses at the hospital, but there was something  _ different _ about the way El was saying it. Something, special, almost. 

“I always knew that you had a big heart but this just confirms it. Not many people would do what you did, at least not without complaining about it.” She smiles then, bright and warm and Mike’s chest threatens to burst open. 

“Thanks.” Mike says after a few beats of silence, his voice thick with emotion that he didn’t know he was feeling. “That, uh, means a lot.” He smiles and, if possible, El’s grows. 

They sit there for a moment, smiling at each other and Mike is fairly certain that he could look at her smiling for the rest of his life. Not that he thought any differently before now, but she is  _ definitely _ the most beautiful person he’s ever seen in his life. 

“So, what about you?” He asks after a second. “I think it’s only fair, I gave my story, what about you? What led you to Melvad’s Department Store?” 

El sighs, a small shrug lifting her shoulders. Her hair is in her face again and she pushes it back with a sharp intake of breath. “My story really isn’t all that exciting.” She says after a pause, tilting her head. “It’s kind of sad honestly.” 

“Oh c’mon.” Mike encourages softly, lifting his elbow to tap her on the arm. “I promise I won’t judge.” 

She grins, shaking her head. “I know you won’t judge, but it’s just kind of pathetic, that’s all.” El looks nervous, her teeth worrying her bottom lip and her cheeks pink. 

“Well, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but just know that it’s not going to make me think any differently of you, or anything like that.” 

“I know.” She says softly, and Mike swears she inches herself closer to him. There’s a long stretch of silence, the only noise the hum from the freezers a couple aisles over. It’s calm and comfortable. 

“I never went to school.” El says after a couple of moments, her words slicing through the silence. Mike’s head lifts to look at her and she’s avoiding his gaze, instead looking down the aisle at something off in the dark distance. “I was homeschooled for most of my life, and a lot of stuff happened in my childhood.” She doesn’t elaborate, a weird look on her face and Mike doesn’t ask her too. 

“But, even after I graduated high school, I didn’t go to college. I took classes online, but I never bothered to actually apply to go to college. I didn’t think it was the right choice considering I’d been homeschooled.” She shrugs, her gaze dropping to the floor, still avoiding Mike’s eyes. “I had friends, my dad put me in swimming lessons at the rec center and I went to summer camp one year, and my best friend, Max, and I met because she works at my favorite diner, but I never did the whole school thing. 

“A couple months ago, my dad basically forced me to get a job. Not in a, ‘if you don’t I’ll kick you out and make you fend for yourself’ kind of a way” El smiles, like she’s remembering the conversation and Mike realizes he’s holding his breath, “but more in a, ‘I’m worried about you and think you need to get out there’ kind of way.” She shrugs, wringing her hands together. “Then he started dating Joyce and that’s how I got the job, but uh, don’t tell anyone that part.” 

Mike’s eyebrows crawl up his forehead and he tilts his head in confusion. “Wait...your dad is Joyce’s new husband?” 

El nods, a smile on her face. “That he is, which means that your best friend is my new step brother. Not that I’ve met him yet, with him living in Chicago and all and our parents refusing to have an actual wedding, but I’ve heard good things about him so I’m excited.” 

It takes Mike longer then he’d like to admit to really understand all of the information that El has just given him. In one minute he went from his heart twisting at El’s story to doing a double take at her reveal that her father is the man who Joyce has been gushing about for the last couple of months. 

“You look overwhelmed.” El notes after a minute of so of silence on Mike’s end. And she’s definitely not incorrect, Mike is a little overwhelmed. She laughs then, clear and bright and all the nerves and tension that Mike had been feeling in his body melts away. “Sorry.” 

Mike can’t help but laugh too, shaking his head. “Hey look, remember I didn’t go to college so my ability to follow any train of thought is, well not as good as it used to be.” 

It’s then, with El laughing at his dumb comment, her head thrown back and a wide grin on her face that Mike makes his decision. That he realizes at this point, he has more to gain then he does to lose. That maybe, just maybe, she might feel the same way and that things might end up working out. 

He’s going to tell El how he feels about her. 

“Hey, I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” 

But first, he needs a little bit of courage. 

* * *

Mike isn’t entirely sure  _ what _ universe El is from, but in Mike’s universe when someone says “don’t move I’ll be right back”, you stay where you are. 

Turns out that El doesn’t live by those same rules. 

You see, after Mike has sufficiently raided the alcohol section, grabbing a bottle of the same kind of tequila that him and his friends used to steal from Lucas’ dad, he returns to the canned goods aisle to find it empty with El nowhere in sight. 

Mike doesn’t panic too much because well, El only has one good ankle so she can’t have gone too far, but as he searches the surrounding aisles and comes up totally empty, he has to wonder if El developed teleportation powers in the last twenty minutes and neglected to mention it to him. 

Eventually Mike does find her. She’s managed to make it all the way to the book section on nearly the other end of the store, a feat in which is both impressive and terrifying at the same time. 

“Sorry.” She says when she notices him standing there. “I know you said to wait, but you were gone a long time and I remembered that we got the newest Stephen King book in the other day and I haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet.” 

Mike smirks, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he sits down next to her. “You really wanna read a Stephen King book, alone in a dark, abandoned department store?” He raises his eyebrows at her and she merely shrugs, putting the book down. 

“What did you bring?” 

“Wanna split?” Mike holds the bottle up, smiling when he sees the look on her face. “It’s not that bad I promise.” 

“Mike!” El exclaims, slapping him lightly on the arm. “Joyce is going to kill us if she finds out we took this, this tequila is like thirty bucks a bottle.” Despite this fact, however, El grabs the bottle from him, frowning when she notices that they need a bottle opener to open it. 

Mike shrugs in response, pulling a swiss army knife from his pocket. He feels a little ridiculous most days, carrying it around, but it had been an eighteenth birthday present from Nancy, and she had always said he never knew when he might need it. He supposed maybe she had a point. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll just slip some money into one of the registers it’ll be fine.” He says as he pops the bottle open, giving El a smile as he hands the bottle to her so she can drink first. She rolls her eyes at his words, but doesn’t bother arguing, probably knowing it was a fruitless act. 

He’s not really sure how long they sit there for, passing the bottle back in forth. Mike’s come to realize that time moves differently in here, at night and during the day, so the jury's out on how long it’s been. But after more then a couple of sips, the tequila starts to pump through Mike’s veins. Just enough to give him courage, but not enough to mess with his mind. 

_ Perfect.  _

“Hey, El.” He says softly, pulling her attention. She had been admiring the books on the shelf, occasionally flipping them over to read the descriptions. Mike can tell that she’s still sober, she had taken less sips then him and likely not as big ones, her eyes are still clear and her skin unflushed. 

“Yeah?” She asks and  _ god _ if it isn’t the most beautiful sounding word Mike has ever heard. 

“Can I uh…” The words jumble in Mike’s mouth and he knows the next words he wants to say ‘ _ tell you something’  _ but in true Nervous Mike Wheeler fashion, that is not what he says. Instead he says, “kiss you?” 

El, who had been in the middle of bringing the bottle to her lips, pauses, turning to look at him. A healthy mixture of confusion and disbelief is painted all over her face and Mike can barely breath as he looks at her. He hadn’t meant to ask her that, this certainly  _ isn’t _ how he had wanted this conversation to go, but the words had happened and now he had to own it. 

“Mike,” She says softly, and Mike prepares himself. “That’s just the tequila talking.” She smiles at him, reaching for the bottle, but Mike stops her, putting his hand over hers. He gulps, taking a deep breath. 

_ It was now or never Wheeler. _

“It’s not the tequila, El.” He practically whispers, clearing his throat and adjusting himself so he’s fully looking at her. “El, I’ve wanted to kiss you pretty much since the minute we met.” 

El lifts her eyes to look at him, a look of adorable confusion present on her face. “What?” 

“Look, El, I’m about to just say a lot of things and it’s probably best if you just let me say everything because if I don’t say it now I probably never will.” El, for what it’s worth, doesn’t say anything, merely nodding, eyes never leaving Mike’s face. 

“The thing is, El, that...I’ve pretty much had this massive crush on you since the day we met. I know, it’s horribly pathetic and makes me sound totally lame, but working with you is pretty much the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re smart, witty, and you’re like one of the funniest people I’ve ever met and my life.” El blushes, smiling softly and Mike takes that as encouragement to continue. “Not to mention you’re like, insanely gorgeous, it’s kind of unfair.

“I just...feel all these things when I’m around you and it makes my day better when we get to spend time together. Like the days that we get assigned on registers next to each other are my favorite, and it makes me feel good about myself when I say something that makes you laugh, even if it’s because I did something to embarrass myself. 

“This all probably makes me sound like a loser, but god El, I like you so much. You actually make coming to work fun and I know that if you didn’t work here, my life would be significantly worse than it is right now. I’ve been driving myself crazy thinking about if I was ever going to tell you all of this, and even if you don’t feel the same way, I just really wanted you to know.” 

It feels like a weight has been lifted off of his chest and Mike can’t help but smile as he gets the words out, but his stomach is still a bundle of nerves as he anticipates El’s response. She has a look on her face that Mike can’t decipher and as the long seconds of silence stretch on, his stomach twists and turns and his heart beats so loud it’s all he can hear. 

But, El, beautiful, spellbounding El, whose had Mike’s heart wrapped around her finger since the minute they met, continues to surprise him. Because the next thing Mike knows, her lips are pressing against his and the world is melting away around them. 

* * *

Eventually, somewhere between El kissing him in the books section and the pillow fight they have in the bedding department and the fashion show El puts on for him outside of the dressing room, Mike falls asleep. 

He couldn’t tell you when exactly, his mind and memory going fuzzy after that initial kiss, everything all kind of blends together in a haze of laughter and even more kissing and a warm feeling that Mike never wants to go away. All he does know is when Joyce finds them in the morning, Mike is only slightly embarrassed. 

“Oh my goodness, you two.” She says, in her familiar, motherly, way when she discovers them curled up together under one of the registers. “I am so sorry about this.” Mike’s only barely awake when she’s helping him to his feet, El still snoozing from her spot on the floor. 

“It’s okay, Joyce.” Mike assures her, smiling down at El. “Everything’s fine, don’t worry.” Joyce smiles at him then, squeezing Mike’s shoulders before bending down to shake El awake as well. Mike can’t help but smile as El rubs her eyes, taking Joyce’s discovery of them in stride. 

If possible, Mike falls even harder for her. 

Eventually, the two of them stumble out the front door, El limping on her bad ankle and Mike’s joints tight from being curled up when he slept. But, he doesn’t think he’s ever been this happy so early in the morning. 

They reach El’s car first, and El leans against it as she turns to him. Mike almost offers to drive her home so she doesn’t have to use her ankle, but he has no idea where she lives and he’s sure that she’d turn down his offer, not wanting to be any kind of burden to him. 

“Hey, do you remember what you said to me earlier, about me missing my date last night?” She asks, crossing her arms across her chest, a small smile on her face. 

Mike shakes his head, honestly, he doesn't remember much of  _ anything _ that had happened last night, sans the kiss, everything else blurring together. His heart squeezes uncomfortably at her words, however, really hoping that this conversation doesn’t go where he thinks it is. 

“You said that there was always tomorrow night, which would be tonight, technically.” 

“Oh, yeah.” Mike says, nodding. He doesn’t remember that, actually, but El has this coy look on her face that sends butterflies to his stomach and a weird shiver up his spine. “So, you gonna reschedule for tonight?” He doesn’t even try to hide the tightness in his voice, swallowing uncomfortably. 

El however, shakes her head, taking a small step towards him. “Well, I do plan on hopefully going on a date tonight, if you’re up for it, that is.” She’s smirking at him and goddamn does Mike want to kiss her again. 

It does, however, take him like an embarrassingly long amount of time to realize what she’s suggesting, but when he does he grins. “Are you asking me out?” He teases, raising an eyebrow. 

“Maybe, that is, if you’re not against breaking the ‘no coworker dating’ rule.” She says with a small shrug. Mike had never taken that rule too seriously, it was really only in place to ensure that no one did anything gross in the store. He knew that Joyce would never seriously punish them if she found out. 

“Eh, what’s the fun of having rules if you’re not breaking them.” 

El giggles, the clear, joyful sound echoing around the near empty parking lot like morning bells. “You’ve never said that before in your life have you?” 

Mike shakes his head, laughing. “No, but there’s a first time for everything, right?” 

“Right. So, I’ll see you tonight?” She asks, opening the driver’s side door of her car. She’s smiling widely and Mike’s heart wants to explode out of his chest he’s so happy. He can only nod, at a loss for words. “Bye, Mike.” 

“Bye, El.” 

Later, he’ll freak out because El didn’t give him a time or place to meet, but he’ll calm down once he finds a piece of paper in his pants pocket with her cell phone number on it. That night, they’ll go to a little Italian restaurant a couple towns over and Mike will spill spaghetti sauce on him and El will practically wheeze she’s laughing so hard, but she’ll lean over and kiss him soundly and Mike will feel like he’s on cloud nine. 

In a couple of weeks, Joyce will catch them kissing in the parking lot and even though she’ll give them a speech about appropriate work relationships, she’ll hug both of them, telling them how happy she is for them. In a couple of months, El will tell Mike she’s ready to move out of her dad’s house and coincidentally, Mike’s roommate will be moving out in a few weeks, so really it’s all perfect timing. 

In about a year, Joyce will fire Mike, for his own good, giving him a bonus so he can finally start taking college classes. He’ll get into Indiana State and move to Terre Haute, El coming with him because she too has finally outgrown their small town. They’ll struggle, as most young couples do, but they’ll be okay. As long as they have each other. 

But, none of that has happened quite yet. 

For now, Mike is content to watch El drive out of the Melvad’s parking lot, a small smile on his face. 

Definitely the  _ best night ever.  _   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, there we have it folks! i hope u enjoyed this one. i'm not sure what au i'm going to tackle next, i'm thinking maybe one that involves a coffee shop, i've never written a coffee shop au, but there's a first time for everything, right?
> 
> lemme know what you think and i'll catch up with you all next time!


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